§ 10. Mr. HawksleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what initiatives the Prison Service is taking to control prisoners' access to drugs. [10557]
§ Miss WiddecombeSpecific measures to control the supply of drugs into prisons include enhanced searching, increased use of closed circuit television and sniffer dogs. We are also assessing the results of a pilot scheme on the mandatory use of non-contact or closed visits. In addition, many establishments have taken the opportunity to develop local initiatives for controlling the supply of drugs.
§ Mr. HawksleyI had hoped that when people were sent to prison, there would be an opportunity to reduce the 1068 amount of drugs that they took. I welcome the mandatory drug-testing regime, but its results show that in Cardiff 74 per cent. of tests were positive and in Featherstone and Dorchester the figure was more than 50 per cent. Has any disciplinary action been taken against the warders and governors of prisons that show high levels of positive results from mandatory testing? They appear to be turning a blind eye to the problem, because almost all the drugs must come from visitors, whom they could control.
§ Miss WiddecombeIt is certainly not the case that a blind eye is being turned to drugs in prisons—many initiatives and ring-fenced funding have demonstrated our commitment to combating the problem. A prisoner who was found to have taken drugs could be subject to disciplinary action, resulting in the loss of up to 42 days' remission; a prison officer who was found have brought in drugs would be subject to dismissal; and a visitor who was found to have brought in drugs would be subject to prosecution. We have a firm programme, which is working.
§ Mr. George HowarthI congratulate the hon. Lady on being made a Privy Councillor. Will she acknowledge that, over the past few months, Ministers have repeatedly given me inaccurate information on the scale and types of drugs being detected in the prison system? Does she accept that as soon as accurate information is available, it should be published so that we can make a proper assessment of what is happening in prisons and informed decisions on how to combat the growing menace of drug abuse in our prison system?
§ Miss WiddecombeI thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind remarks. As I met him this week specifically to discuss the issue, he will be aware that there are some doubts and questions—which are perhaps not particularly large or with a particularly vast effect—on the integrity of retests, which are given after test results have been challenged, and on the impact of that matter on the overall figures. He will be aware—as I have given him an undertaking—that the matter is being examined urgently, that the figures are being refined and that any past statements we have made that may have been based on old and questionable figures will be corrected.